Ottawa, Ontario (AHN) – Border service officers at Pearson Airport in Toronto will undergo training to help them be more sensitive in dealing with Middle Eastern and Islamic passengers.

Training sessions for 500 border service officers have been organized by the Canada Border Services Agency to fine-tune their screening abilities, to enable them to respect the customs of international passengers, especially Muslims and Arabs arriving at Canada’s busiest gateway.

The courses will run from September to March 2009.

Canadian Arab and Muslim representatives said they welcomed the courses. Mohamed Boudjenane, executive director of the Canadian Arab Federation, complained since the Sept. 11 attack “We became all potential terrorists without doubt, and we still have some examples of people being picked up from the line because they wear long beards or the hijab.”

[Gee, I don’t recall any decrepit old ladies hijacking a plane, but I have seen old ladies “picked up from the line” for further screening… I, myself have been subjected to further screening when going through airport security. And, I do seem to recall that the hijackers on 9/11 and those responsible for other recently thwarted terror attacks WERE Muslim, so, his argument is specious, at best… Profile away!!!]

Boudjenane said the courses are the result of the group’s lobbying.

Other efforts to improve the airport’s services in various Canadian gateways include the recent extension of border services at the airports in Moncton, Fredericton and Charlottetown to 16-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week. It will cost the federal government $1 million a year to fund the service extension.